In what appeared to be an ongoing crackdown on the allies of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, police arrested Awami Muslim League (AML) President Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and journalist Imran Riaz on Thursday.
The Islamabad police arrested Rashid in a late-night on his residence in a private housing society over criminal conspiracy, creating rift among two groups and giving hateful statements. However, Riaz was arrested by the Lahore police from the Allama Iqbal airport on charges of ‘hate speech’.
The arrests come days after senior PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry was released on bail following his arrest in a sedition case. On Wednesday, former PTI lawmaker Shandana Gulzar was booked in a sedition case over her controversial remarks in a talk show on a private news channel.
Also on Wednesday, former Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid, his son Moonis Elahi – the major allies of the PTI in Punjab – said their family home in Gujrat was raided in the wee hours and their employees, including women, were harassed.
Meanwhile, an Islamabad court remanded Rashid into two-day police custody following his late-night arrest for publically accusing former president Asif Ali Zardari of hatching a plot to assassinate PTI Chairman Imran Khan.
Rashid was arrested by the Abpara police after in a case was registered against him under sections 120B, 153 A, and 505 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) on the compliant of Raja Inayat, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Rawalpindi Division vice president.
Police said the former interior minister was booked for criminal conspiracy, creating rift among two groups and giving hateful statements. After the arrest Rashid was brought to the Abpara police station in Islamabad, from where he was taken to the Polyclinic Hospital for medical check-up.
Inayat told police in his complaint that on January 27, he heard an interview of Rashid on a private TV channel, in which he [Rashid] spoke about a conspiracy saying the PPP Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari had hired some terrorists who wanted to kill Imran.
Inayat claimed that Rashid had attempted to defame the former president, and thereby creating a permanent threat to Zardari and his family. He added that Rashid wanted to create enmity between the PPP and the PTI by mentioning “a fabricated and baseless conspiracy”.
Since Rashid knew about the conspiracy to kill Imran Khan, Inayat continued, the police should foil that plot by gleaning information from him [Rashid] and use the authority under Sections 150 and 151 of the PPC to arrest all the characters in the plot.
The police said that after registering the first information report (FIR) on January 30 an inquiry was started under Section 196B. However, the police added, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed did not give any reply therefore a case was registered under Sections 120B, 153A and 506 of the PPC.
However, speaking to the media outside the Abpara police station, Rashid said that Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted him bail earlier in the day and had summoned the inspector general of the Islamabad police on February 6 on the matter.
Rashid said that 150 armed policemen scaled the walls and entered his house by breaking the door, adding that children and employees, present there were subjected to serious violence. “I was forced into a car and brought to the police station,” he said, narrating his ordeal.
Rashid said accused the station house officer (SHO) of the Abpara police station of being a supporter of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). “[Interior Minister] Rana Sanaullah is doing all this. The Abpara police station has become a symbol of oppression,” he continued.
“God willing, the truth will be victorious,” he said. “I am with Imran Khan.” Later, a picture of Sheikh Rashid from inside the police station went viral in which the former minister could be seen smiling, while sitting in a chair.
Second case
Rashid Shafiq, a nephew of Rashid and a former National Assembly member, also reached the Abpara police station, accompanied by several AML workers. Talking to the media, Shafiq alleged that police vandalised their house and also take away two bullet-proof vehicles, weapons and expensive watches.
However, police said that Rashid resisted the arrested and threatened the arresting party with dire consequences while pointing guns at them. The Abpara police also lodged another case of resisting arrest, thus intervening in the police work.
Inspector Ashiq Ali Munawar, the investigation officer at the Abpara police station, Islamabad, lodged another FIR against Rashid with the Murree police station. Two employees of Rashid had also been named in the FIR and weapons had been recovered from both of them.
According to the FIR Rashid threatened the policemen with dire consequences and assaulted a police constable and ripped his uniform. He pointed a gun at them and hurled expletives at the police, saying that he threatened that he would not spare them.
Rashid and his employees had been booked under sections 506 Appendix II, 553 and 185 of the PPC. The police also deposited the arms seized during the raid to the Murree police. Meanwhile, the Islamabad police were completely silent about the arrested employees of Rashid.
Police remand
On Thursday morning, Rashid was produced in the court of Judicial Magistrate Omar Shabbir. Judge Shabbir granted the police two-day physical remand of Rashid. The police then took the former minister to the police station.
Imran condemned the arrest of Sheikh Rashid, saying that “such a vengeful caretaker government appointed by the Election Commission [of Pakistan (ECP) has never been imposed upon us before”. He as whether the country could afford a public movement, towards which “we are being pushed”.
Later, in a video statement shared by the PTI on Twitter following Rashid's arrest, the AML leader claimed that there was "a serious threat" to his life, adding that this "is punishment for his support for and solidarity with Imran Khan".
He said that he has held government positions 16 times, during which he had not had a single corruption case against him. In a separate statement, Rashid said that he would succeed in ending the government run by "thieves". He claimed the “thieves will be captured in March or April, if not in this month”.
Journalist arrested
In Lahore, senior journalist and anchorperson Imran Riaz was reportedly taken into custody by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). PTI’s official Twitter account also shared a video that reportedly showed the journalist at the FIA’s office in the provincial capital.
The anchorperson's official Twitter account also confirmed the development. "Imran Riaz Khan was arrested by FIA and taken into custody at an unknown place, the airport staff misinformed the public at the scene and escorted him via backdoor entrances," read a tweet posted by Riaz's social media team.
In July last year, the anchorperson was arrested from Islamabad Toll Plaza. He had been implicated in a slew of cases which he claimed were motivated by his refusal to “stop speaking the truth”. He was arrested in a case lodged at the Attock police station.
According to the FIR registered against the journalist, Riaz was “found involved in publicly making a hate speech at a conference which falls under the territorial jurisdiction of FIA cyber crime cell”. It added that his speech was shared on the social media.
The PTI condemned the arrest of Imran Riaz, saying that human rights did not exist in the country anymore. “Sheikh Rashid arrested. Imran Riaz arrested. Politicians jailed. Journalists jailed. Terrorists are walking free,” tweeted senior PTI leader Asad Umar.(With additional input from News Desk)
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